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Welcome to South Daytona, Florida.
April 2012
Domain of our state bird, the mosquito. (Well, usually. We've had a very bad dry spell, a drought actually, and we haven't
had our normal afternoon thunderstorms as usual so not much ponding for them to spawn or whatever it is they do to multiply.)
Lawns are drying out, brush fires are sprouting up everywhere and flowers, well, for some reason they're still blooming, don't
ask me how.
Attack of the aphids.
The treatment of soapy water, and bug spray, hardly seem to do anythng to bring back the leaves which dropped off. But
the Hibiscus still insist on blooming on what are beginning to look like bare stalks. Nelson should study these, use the knowlege
on how these shrubs can survive.
I suggested to Dad that we pull up the almost denuded shrubs and plant something else, but he insists on giving them
a chance or replanting more Hibiscus, my late mother's favorite.
Alas, my two year old Christmas Cactus. Grows like a weed, but no flowers. Even if it spent some time the closet to urge
flowering (to no avail).
These two smaller Christmas Cactus's are from this year. They were in full bloom at that time, but lost their flowers
before family visited.
Maybe they're related to those plant brothers aboard Seaview.
Notice the 'bird house' (for our mosquitos) in the indoor planter.
ABOVE: My late Mom had the Honeysuckle planted years ago. Now it's rather taken over the palm trees.
I took this picture on Sunday, April 29, 2012, and oh what a lovely way to start the morining with that heavenly scent!
Sometimes these plant's roots grow above ground and look like huge snakes.
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| After a summer rain |
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| Sunny Day |
Mystery flower. Growing wild along the back yard fence. Have no idea what it is. Help, anyone?
Memo
From Grounds keeping
To Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
Re:
Mystery plant
Sir,
As requested we did a little research into your `mystery plant' sprouting in
various areas
here at ComSubPac. We checked with the experts and it's a Mexican
Petunia. Ruellia Mexicana.
From Adm. Jiggs Starke,
ComSubPac
To Grounds keeping
Re: Mystery plant
I know a petunia when I see one. And this is not a petunia even
from south of
the border. Get rid of it.
From Grounds keeping
To Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
Re: Mystery
plant
Sir,
It's botanical name is Ruellia brittoniana, aka Purple Showers. It's an
evergreen shrub and can
grow to three feet. It has blue or purple Petunia like
flowers which last only one day. Are you sure you want to get rid
of it? They're
a nice ground cover and can hide some of the rust spots in the older buildings
by the sub pen.
From
Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
To Grounds keeping
Re: Mystery plant
Okay, it's a Petunia from Mexico. So, how'd
it get here? And we're bringing in
some prefabs to replace the old buildings. Get rid of it. This is the Navy, not
a
flower shop!
From Grounds keeping
To Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
Re: Mystery plant
Sir,
It's
an aggressive self sower, and likes a warm climate and well-drained soil.
Has even done rather well in Florida. Perhaps
some seeds from someplace blew
into a hem or pocket or cover and were carried here unbeknownst to the host
traveler.
They
make a nice container plant too.
From Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
To Grounds Keeping
Re: Mystery plant
Is
that a way of telling me that even I could be responsible from my travels?
Well, never mind that now. Good grief man, the
damn things are even starting to
spread into my parking spot! Get rid of them!
From Grounds keeping
To Adm. Jiggs
Starke, ComSubPac
Re: Mystery plant
Have pulled up the plants in question, so your car is safe for now, though they
seem
to have been replaced by new sprouts already.
From Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
To Adm. Harriman Nelson, NIMR
Re:
Mystery plant
Harry, I don't want to be a pest, but have you seen any Petunia like shrubs
recently? The damn things
are starting to overrun things here, no matter how
many times we pull them up.
Weeds and flowers do grow on government
property, no matter how many times
things are cut or mowed but I don't like flowers near my boats! I had to put
some
of the submarine crews on report for making baskets of them and hanging
them from the conning towers and setting them on
the diving planes!
Okay, so these boats are not on patrol, but cheech, Harry, flowers do not belong
on submarines,
not matter what the SecNav says about the importance of hobbies!
And now, Jackson's brought in a pot of them and sat
it on his desk. Every time I
pass by it's as if the damn things are mocking me.
Whatever happened to the old Navy?
From
Adm. Harriman Nelson, NIMR
To Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
Re: Mystery plant
Picture attached.
I'm afraid
it's got to be my fault, Jiggs. Lee, Chip, and I visited Agent
Catfish in Daytona Beach and she had something that looks
like what you
describe, so we must have brought some seeds along to ComSubPac.
We didn't spend much time in the
back yard though, and it was such a little
plant…I thought it was rather pretty. You need to get a life, Jiggs. In
fact, we
have several hanging baskets of the things aboard Seaview now. Makes her so much
more `homey' don't you think?
From
Adm. Jiggs Starke, ComSubPac
To The President, The White House
Re: Mystery plant
Sir, I'm declaring an Orange
Alert. As you can see from the string of messages,
I have come to believe that we've been invaded by some kind of alien
presence
that's either taken over or disguised itself as Ruellia Mexicana and that
Nelson's judgment has been compromised.
What
would you advise to rid us of the invading alien plants?
From The President, The White House
To Adm. Jiggs Starke,
ComSubPac
Re: Mystery plant
A nuclear charge, what else? Nelson's used it before too many times to count to
rid
us of the plagues of mankind and alien takeovers.
Seems such a shame though, they're really rather pretty…I have
one right here
that the First Lady's just brought to my desk…it's so pretty…so pretty…
Personal
Journal
Jiggs Starke
I have had to use that initiative that submariners are famous for, and after
checking Harry's
notes, rigged cables to one of the boat's nuclear reactors in
order to zap the damn plants here at ComSubPac.
Fortunately,
they had some kind of network and all seem to have died, even the
ones in Florida and at the White House, so I didn't need
extra cables or
exention cords.
The real Mexican Petunia will just have to start all over, if they can. One
thing's
for certain. A Petunia is Petunia. Except when it's an alien.
Three potted Hydrangea's in my late mother's antique coal skuttle. It was the only place I could think to put them! The
purple one was all droopy, but a nice drink of water brought it right back up. All three were purchased at our local grocery
store in a kind of paper ice cream cone container.
I'm not sure if I can plant these outside in our subtropical zone 9. (Probably not though some Floridians do have a little
luck with them, but very little.) but I love having a bit of color in the house!
A patriotic display. A kind of chrysanthemum.
The store spray painted the white blooms I'm sure. Have no idea if this will transplant outside later on,
but I think it's rather pretty and just purrfect for the 4th of July!
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| Another mystery solved! |
Another Mystery Solved
No doubt my late mother would have known what these were, in fact, she probably planted them. I was going to ask visitors
for help to determine what this plant was, but Dad took a closer look and then remembered they're Crepe Myrtle.
These plants haven't had any kind of special care for over 6 years. Nothing but Florida sun, storms, and bugs. Oh yes,
and a tortise now and then, not to mention some racoons. In fact, a 'bandit' crossed their paths just yesterday.
But this plant sure seem happy enough.
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